One object usually explains the whole room
Look for the thing that has been moved the most, not the thing worth the most.
Wear tells the truth. The chair with the polished arms, the handle rubbed back to brass, the patch of floor worn pale — these record what actually happened here, as opposed to what the room was designed for.
Valuable objects tend to be the least informative. They are placed, insured and left alone. The kettle, the doorstop and the wrong-sized table have all been moved a thousand times by people solving real problems.
Photographers learn this early: shoot the wear, and the room explains itself. Shoot the centrepiece, and you get an advertisement.